


With Open Arms And Open Eyes

by 1Temmie_Official1



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Alpha Aaron Hotchner, Alpha Derek Morgan, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Beta Jennifer "JJ" Jareau, Case Fic, Gen, Homophobia, I'm Bad At Summaries, I'm Bad At Tagging, Implied/Referenced Drug Addiction, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, It's Criminal Minds, Minor Character Death, Minor Original Character(s), Non-Traditional Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Omega Spencer Reid, Original Character Death(s), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, References to Drugs, Tags May Change, some violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-18
Updated: 2020-06-25
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:07:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,375
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24247003
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/1Temmie_Official1/pseuds/1Temmie_Official1
Summary: An unsub has been killing male omegas in Spencer Reid's area... and of course, the police have to protect the last male omega in that area: Spencer Reid
Relationships: Spencer Reid & The BAU Team, The BAU Team & Everyone
Comments: 13
Kudos: 181





	1. Uncertainty Stinging Clear

It was common knowledge that alphas held more violent jobs. It wasn't illegal or a taboo but it was still uncommon for an omega or even a beta to be in a violent job such as police work or military positions.

Perhaps that was why no one assumed that a certain Doctor Spencer Reid was an omega. No one asked, so he never told. Obviously, he was on heat suppressants and scent blockers, the former because with how unpredictable his job was, not giving him the opportunity to give in to his omega instincts, and the latter because with a job where scents could be potentially triggering (that along with the fact that it was regulation, let it be alpha, beta, or omega) so everyone wore scent blockers.

So Spencer was content with living his dangerous life regardless of the stigmatism that came along with his secondary gender in his workplace and saving people's lives.

That was until Monday's new case.

It started out normal, he took his coffee with the normal, ungodly amount of sugar, spewed off some statistics to Morgan and Prentiss. Sat down and started on his caseload. An hour had passed, a blessed hour of peace before his world was turned upside-down.

"Conference room," Hotch said as he walked by Spencer's desk. Picking up his coffee cup, Spencer strode into the bullpen. There was, as normal, pictures of dead people on the screen except...

"Mitchell Harrison and Joel Gonzalez." At those names, Spencer's heart sped up and his stomach dropped to the floor. They couldn't be- "Harrison was strangled in an alleyway near..." Spencer zoned out at this. He already knew. He gripped the armrests of his chair. He knew who those people were.

There were only 3 male omegas who lived in the Southeast quadrant of DC. Mitch, Joel, and Doctor Spencer Reid. He felt sick.

"There is no doubt this was an omephobic ((this is my canon and there is a word for anti-omega thoughts)) attack. Both of the victims were male omegas." Hotch confirmed. Spencer attempted to remain calm despite the horrible panic inside.

"Shouldn't we put the rest of the omegas in the area under police protection?" Morgan suggested. Spencer couldn't speak, afraid that he would spill the thoughts running through his head. _They want to kill me. They are going to kill me for something I can't control._

Hotch nodded. "There are- were only three omegas in that area. The last one is sure to be the unsub's final victim."

"We need to find that last omega." JJ agreed. Before Spencer could process what he was going to say, it came tumbling out of his mouth.

"You don't need to." That got everyone's attention.

"What do you mean?" Morgan asked.

"The last omega in the Southeast quadrant," Spencer inhaled shakily. "Is me."


	2. Let Fear Take The Wheel And Steer

_Previously:_

_"The last omega in the Southeast quadrant... is me."_

Spencer could feel the stares of his teammates on him. Morgan was staring blankly.

"You're an omega?" He said bluntly. Spencer flinched, prepared for rejection. He only was able to nod, jaw clenched too tightly to speak. Hotch schooled his expression to remain neutral.

"I was going to say that we needed to find the last remaining male omega in that area but since we have," Hotch cleared his throat. "We need to get a geographical profile on the unsub. Morgan, Reid, you guys need to visit the latest crime scene. JJ, Prentiss, you meet with the local police. Rossi and I will go to the first crime scene." Everyone bar Morgan began the process of catching the Unsub.

Reid nodded and immediately attempted to get to work, wanting to leave the conference room as soon as humanly possible. Morgan got the team's attention. "Woah, guys, should Reid _really_ be on this case?" He said. Reid grit his teeth, ignoring the pure _hurt_ that melted in his chest.

"Morgan!" JJ said, furious. Morgan seemed to notice his mistake and quickly made to correct it.

"Not like that! It's just that maybe we shouldn't have Reid, who is the only male omega who resides in the unsub's kill-zone, be working on a case in the danger of a psychopath unsub whose killing male omegas?" Morgan almost shouted. _Oh_. That made sense, but Reid couldn't. He wouldn't let his secondary gender get in the way of anything, especially this case. Because the worst thing he could become was weak, and being weak was never an option.

Hotch glared at Morgan. "The only reason I will take Agent Reid off this case is if he requests it or I see a good reason to." Hotch looked to Reid for his response.

"I'm taking the case," he confirmed, pointedly staring at Morgan. Spencer could see the emotions brewing underneath his gaze. It was Morgan who turned away.

"Fine. Pretty boy's on the case, but if you get hurt..." Morgan trailed off.

Reid flushed. "I'm not going to."

Morgan sighed. "I know, kid. That's what we all say."

-

The local police let Morgan and Reid into the crime scene. The press was already at the scene, screaming questions and trying to get pictures of the scene. The detective in charge of the case, Detective Rawn, pulled them aside. "This is a high profile case, whoever's doing this is making a serious statement." He sighed. "There aren't a lot of male omegas here, only three that I was aware of. Now two are dead."

Morgan put a hand on Rawn's shoulder. "Nothing will happen to the last male omega here. He has accepted federal protection and no one has made an effort to harm him yet." Reid relaxed a bit, relieved that Morgan hadn't revealed his secondary gender. They went to where the body of Mitchell Harrison was. Reid steadied himself. This was just another case with another set of victims.

Harrison had been strangled manually. That took effort and time. And strength. Most likely a larger male, probably an alpha or a beta on the stronger side. _Then again, it was the former that was more possible. There is a pretty even one-third split for every secondary gender, male alphas being more abundant in the alpha category at ~60%-40%, while betas split more ~50/50._ His brain helpfully supplied. _However, DC's male population is alpha-dominated, male alphas taking up about 29% of the population of DC, betas taking up the remaining ~18%, omegas scraping the lower part of the ~1%._

Reid continued inspecting the body. There was something in Harrison's fist. He took it out and unfolded it.

_Spencer Reid is a traitor to humanity. He isn't even fit to be a breeder to a proper alpha. Spencer Reid is going to die in 2 weeks._

Spencer felt his hands shaking. He was going to die in two weeks. The Unsub proved that he could kill and will kill. Where would he find Spencer? Would he be like Mitch, who was probably walking home to his wife and kid. Would he be like Joel who was no doubt driving home. How would he be found? Would he be found like Joel, who's partners Katy and Adrian had to identify his body. Mitch was right in front of him.

His eyes. They stared at him so empty-

_This is what will happen to you._

Spencer.

_You're going to be strangled in an alleyway._

Spencer!

_You're going to dig your own grave._

"Spencer, you okay, man?" Morgan had put his hand on Spencer's shoulder. He suddenly remembered he had to breathe. He wasn't suffocating. Not yet.

"Note." That was all he could say. Morgan took the note out of his hand. After a moment he realized what Reid was experiencing.

"Go back to the car, take a break." Morgan ordered, standing up.

He didn't want to be useless. He could handle this. He could handle this. "But-"

Morgan silenced him with a firm look. "No buts, I can take this myself. I'll tell Detective Rawn that you needed to go over some information. Go." The walk to the car seemed like the blink of an eye. He remembered every moment but it all felt so short. The flashing lights from the cameras and the _screaming_ and _noise_. It was all too loud and too bright.

After what seemed like forever, Morgan came back to the car. "Kid, you okay?"

Spencer tried to collect himself. "Yeah. Yeah I'm fine."

Morgan saw through it. "We're going back to the station. You can work on the profile there, but you need to be on guard. We have two weeks to solve this, we've worked on less." Spencer bit his lip. That calmed him a little.

"Yeah." He suddenly realized that he would have to put the note on the drawing board. His stomach pooled with dread.

Morgan seemed to read his mind. "We can keep your secondary gender secret if you want." Spencer nodded. Though his team accepted him it was a whole other story for DC. "Okay. Now I know I said I was going to let you on this case but that doesn't mean that I'm not going to let some crazy omega-killer be able to stalk you and threaten to kill you."

That made Spencer smile a bit. "Thanks, Morgan."

Morgan ruffled his hair despite Spencer's protest. "Welcome, kid."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this sucks lol


	3. Vague, Haunting Mass Appeal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> TW if you’re sensitive to prejudice/homophobia, starts at bolded sentence, ends at other bolded sentence.

_Previously:_

_"We're going back to the station. You can work on the profile there," he said._

_That made Spencer smile a bit. "Thanks, Morgan."_

_"Welcome, kid."_

On the ride back all Spencer could think of was the press. They were everywhere, and not all reactions were good. They were the ones to present these murders to the public, and they were the ones that would either protect or attack Spencer. _He was going to die in two weeks_. Spencer and Morgan arrived at the police department, and there was already a swarm of people with flashing lights outside the car. Several officers had created a path via barrier but the people kept pushing. Morgan opened the door.

_"Is the FBI here to solve these murders?!"_

_"What is your opinion on these attacks?"_

_"Are these attacks random?"_

Morgan pushes through but-

Spencer didn't.

 **A man slams himself through the crowd.** Spencer had noticed him before, he'd been trying to scream over the other questions and people, but Spencer didn't quite acknowledge him until now. The man got past the police officers and began yelling at Spencer.

"Why the fuck are you defending omega f*ggots?! Fucking disgusting pieces of shit!! Those f*gs deserved it!" He roared. He was pushed back by the officers, but he kept on yelling- _toomuchnoicetoomuchnoise_ -. "Get back to the shit hole you crawled out of, fucking queer!!"

_He's right. He can't be right!! But what if-_

He continued hurling insults even as he was escorted away. Meaner words. Louder. Spencer was numb, far away from the world he was in yet so painfully grounded in it.

Spencer knee that the human mind could never forget a face. Spencer knew this all too well, Tobias Hankel/Raphael/Tobias's father was cemented in his haunted mind when he shut his eyes on bad nights. All the people he couldn't save. His mother when she was put away.

All he could see was a stranger yelling at him and calling him the worst things that he could think of. The worst things anyone could think of.

Spencer had stared down murders and serial killers but-

_Why did it hurt so much?_

**It felt like forever but it was only a few seconds.** Morgan pulled him into the station. Everything felt numb. Oh how he longed to go back to this morning when everything was okay. He shouldn't have gotten out of bed today.

But he had to catch the bad guy.

-

Spencer had taken a few minutes to himself to calm down while Morgan explained the situation to the team and some other detectives. He pretended not to notice that as Morgan continued on, various members of the team glanced at him, as if judging how he was.

He honestly couldn't blame them but that didn't mean that he liked it.

He didn't pay attention to their conversations, instead naming random statistics and facts in his mind to distract himself. Eventually, he zoned back in to notice their plan of action: they couldn't just not show the note but it would be a good idea to just blot out Spencer's name for privacy.  
A quick call to Garcia and a photocopy of the note with Spencer's name blotted out had been faxed over and printed.

"I'll put it up." He had to be strong. The worst thing was to be weak. He hid his emotions well, breaking down in front of Morgan wasn't good. JJ noticed what he was holding and frowned at it.

"Is that-"

Spencer cut JJ off. "I can't let the other detectives see that I'm distancing myself from this case. They'll know something is up." He explained. JJ drew her lips into a thin line.

"Okay." She decided. She handed him the photocopied note. His hands trembled as they took it, and he forced them to steady. _Let no weakness show._ He took one thumbtack and placed it on the board. Such a simple act. He ignored the pictures of the bodies. It wasn't pretty. They had just been tossed aside like trash. A simple act.

Spencer cleared his throat. "The Unsub left a note at the last crime scene, directly targeting a male omega. For privacy reasons, the omega's name has been blocked out." He explained to another detective, Detective Jordan Rigney. Spencer was careful to not let any emotions show. Rigney was an alpha, and he didn't seem to be the most accepting of people. It was the second sense that Reid had.

Rigney nodded. "So you got the breeder in your custody?"

Prentiss, who had been talking with officer Logan Adley, jumped to Reid's defense. "Omegas are not breeders." She stated. Spencer gave her a look.

"What are you going to do about it?" He taunted. Before Prentiss could respond, Hotch and Rossi arrived.

"What have you got?" Hotch asked. Reid took this as an opportunity to derail his previous situation.

"The Unsub left a note at the crime scene directed at the male omega we have under police protection." He explained, presenting the note to Hotch. By this time, Rigney had stalked off to work on other aspects of the case. "By accenting how unworthy the omega is, the Unsub is placing themselves in a higher position than the omega, like they are more worthy than them."

"The omega will die in two weeks." Rossi noted. "That is a wide timeframe. Why would the Unsub wait that long to kill again?"

Spencer tapped his chin. "The date could be important," he mused.

Hotch frowned. "Or." He paused. "The Unsub plans to kill more omegas in that time. He's holding off on killing the omega we have under protection, why?"

Spencer chimed in. "Not to mention the fact that he called for the omega by name, that indicates that he has either been stalking his victims or he works in an environment where he has access to documents like this." It was better to just distance himself from the situation, then it was to absorb it. Rossi gave him a concerned look. Spencer dismissed it with a dip of his head.

Hotch nodded. "Good idea. We can work on this tomorrow. Everyone go home, get some rest, we're going to need it tomorrow."

Spencer shook his head. "I'll stay here and review the details of the case. I think I'm missing something."

Rossi clapped Spencer on the shoulder. "Don't overwork yourself, kid. Take a break."

Spencer smiled reassuringly. "I will, Rossi."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pls don’t @ me for using Author’s names for characters. It’s hard to come up with realistic names.


	4. My Chance To Be One Of The Hive

(TW: drugs)

"Spencer, you should go home." JJ said. Spencer had been going over the details of the case. There had to be something to help, _he was going to die in two weeks_ , he was missing something in the file-

_"Spencer."_

That cut through his thoughts. JJ had her hand on his shoulder. "Spencer, it's almost midnight." He frowned.

"It's not-" He glanced at the traitorous clock, which indeed read _11:39._ So it was. "Oh."

"C'mon, I'll drive you home." Spencer wearily put down his pen, which he was just about to accidentally steal. That happened more than he'd like to admit. The short walk to the car was silent, JJ not commenting on Spencer's fierce determination to solve the case. She didn't need to say anything, and that was what Spencer liked about their friendship. They understood each other without always needing words, Spencer wasn't the best with words and JJ was the opposite. A friendship of opposites that combined in just the right way.

Spencer fiddled with his thumbs. "JJ." He said quietly. JJ glances at him, humming in acknowledgement before turning her eyes back to the road. It was not silent, but still a far cry from the bustling activity of the day. The silence goaded Spencer to continue. "There was a guy. He... said some bad stuff."

JJ seemed to know where this was going. "You okay?" She asked. Spencer felt the realization crack in his chest. _He wasn't okay_. He stared out the window at the quiet. It was only JJ and him and the blackness of the night. _Divine darkness._ His mind supplied. Perhaps, one day, darkness could be a comfort instead of an enemy, because his enemies hid in the dark and used it as their weapon. His mind couldn't be in the dark without tracking back to Hankel. He couldn't handle being in bright lights without thinking of that man. All the power was in his next words. The truth or another lie? He chose the truth.

"No, I don't think so." Was all he said. JJ stopped at the red light. She turned to him, her eyes holding the kindness of a mother _the mother he never had no matter how much he wanted-_

"Oh, Spencer." It wasn't said with malice or pity or disappointment, only sympathy and a familial love. "Do you want to talk about it?" She prompted. The words about his feelings died in his throat. The calm, stillness of the night killed him. He wanted to.... he couldn't say it. The words would not force themselves out, not tonight.

"Not right now." He admitted. JJ drew her lips into a tight line, obviously conflicted. They continued driving.

"We're here." She announced. Spencer thanked her and got out of the car. Now if only he could figure this out. Then everything could go back to normal. He unlocked his door, like he always did, and stepped inside to-

_No. NO!!!_

Spencer felt something catch in his throat as he took in the scene in front of him. Everything had been thrown about, papers, books, the few decorations he owned- 

His small rainbow pride flag had been burned. Stomped and burned like trash. A part of his identity as a person was treated like trash. Then there was everything else that was who he was, parts of himself that he kept in his home. The way it was thrown about wasn't just searching, there was searching in the madness, but it was simply destruction for destruction's sake. Destruction of him. Of his home.

Wandering with no purpose he saw that similar things had been done to the rest of his home. It was all so horrible. So... 

Spencer felt an aching in his heart. He choked on tears that threatened to fall.

In the corner of his bathroom there was one place that was untouched. It was not on purpose, for whoever did this had found what they were searching for. That was obvious at how most of the bathroom was less messed up than the rest of his home.

There was something there. Spencer's heart beat faster and that was when he knew.

Spencer felt numb. So numb.

He knew.

He took the bottle of Dilaudid.

And sat on the floor.

He was so numb but so alive.

The urges screamed at him to do it.

And the choice was now in his hands.

_One syringe. One bottle._

**Author's Note:**

> 1- There will be no Hotch/Reid or Morgan/Reid. I just don't ship it. I might include a romantic relationship but that's on the fence for now.
> 
> 2- This is Criminal Minds, there could be potentially triggering stuff but I plan to keep everything down to the bare minimum.


End file.
